Safety-catch for hammerless guns



W. E. JENKINS.

SAFETY CATCH FOR HAMMERLESS GUNS.

(No Model.)

Patented Dec. 22, 1891-.

INVENTOH By jt'i %m 1*@ ATTORNEYS WITNESSES: Mm

UNITED S'IATES PATENT FFICE.

I WILlJ IAM EDWARD JENKINS, OF ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA.

SAFETY-CATCH FOR HAMMERLESS GUNS.

SPEGIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 465,764, dated December 22, 1891.

Application filed March 31,1891. Serial No. 387,087. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM EDWARD JEN- KINS, of Rock Hill, in the county of York and State of South Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Safety-Catch for I-Iarnmerless Guns, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a safety-catch for hammerless guns, and has for its obj ect to provide a simple and durable device whereby the triggers will be normally locked, but whereby when the fire-arm is held at the shoulder or in a firing position the pressure of the hand upon the grip or stock of the piece will instantly release the triggers.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part'of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a partial side elevation and partial sectional View of a gunstock having the.

improvement applied, the trip being located at the top. Fig. 2 is a view similar to that represented in Fig. 1, illustrating a slight modification in the construction of the trip mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section through a stock, illustrating the con struction of a second modification and the location of the trip mechanism at the under side of the stock.

A lock-latch 1 0 is pivoted within a chamber 11 in the stock in such manner that the head of the latch may be forced over and in engagement with the body-section of the trigger or triggers 12, and when the latch is in this position the trigger or triggers cannot be drawn to operate the firing mechanism.

In the preferred construction of the device two levers 13 and 14. are independently pivoted in the stock-chamber 11, the pivots be ing preferably between their centers and in ner ends, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The

inner or facing ends of thelevers are provided with teeth 15, the teeth of the two levers being adapted to mesh, and the toothed ends of the levers are preferably made segmental or are shaped as mutilated gears. The levers, when in their normal position, are

practically horizontal, and when so situated the forward end of the lever 13 bears so firmly against the latch 10 as to maintain the latter in a locking engagement with the triggers.

In the back of the latch a diagonal recess 16 is produced, and the lever 13 bears against the upper-end of the outer wall of this'recess when the latch is in its locking position. The outer or rear end of the lever 14 is pivotally connected by a link 17 with the under face of a trip-plate 18. The trip-plate is pivoted in the stock-chamber 11 and covers'an opening in the chamber, which opening may be located either in the top or bottom of the stock, as may be found most practicable. The outer face of the trip-lever is preferably made convexed and extends beyond the outer surface of the grip-section of the stock, in which section the plate is located. The plate is capable of being pressed within the stock-chamber 11 against the tension of a spring 19, which normally forces it outward. The outward movement of the trip-plate-is limited by a lip 20 upon said plate striking againsta wall of the chamber 11, and the spring 19, exerting ten sion upon the plate, may be of any desired shape. The spring shown in Figs. 1 and 3 is practically V-shaped and is attached within the stock-chamber at one end. The spring illustrated in Fig. 2 is coiled around the link washer upon the link, the lower portion of the spring being seated in a casing 21 within the stock-chamber, through which casing the link passes.

In Fig. 3 a single leverB is employed, and the lever is centrally pivoted. This latter form of lever may be used as a substitute for that shown in Figs. 1 and 2; but the dual levers are preferred.

The triggers can be drawn to actuate the firing mechanism only when the trip-plate is pressed inward, as while the plate is in its normal position the levers are maintained in a horizontal position and the latch in the looking position. By reason of this construction as soon as the gun is brought to the shoulder the trip-plate is pressed inward by the hand of the marksman gripping the stock, as the plate is located at a point where the stock must be gripped when the stock is at the shoulder, and the latch is moved from engagement with the triggers the moment the trip plate is pressed inward, as when the outer end of the lever 14 is pressed downward the corresponding end of the lever 13 is carried in the same direction and in moving enters the recess 16 of the latch and forces the latch rearward and downward, disengaging it completely from the triggers. It is evident that the moment the trip-plate is relieved from pressure the spring will act to restore it and the leveror levers to their normal or locking positions.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat-- ent 1. In a fire-arm, the combination, with the stock having a recess'in the grip portion, a catch for locking the trigger, and a lever en gaging the catch to prevent its retraction, of a trip-plate pivoted longitudinally in the said grip-recess and projecting beyond the surface of the grip, a spring for pressing the plate outward and returning the catch and lever to a segmental toothed inner end, a second lever 7 having a toothed end engaging with the toothed surface of the first lever, and a link connection between the levers and the tripplate, substantially as described.

-WVILLIAM EDWARD JENKINS. Witnesses:

J. E. SADLER, G. LAVILLE SWEENY. 

